About Puri Jagannath Temple

About Puri Jagannath Temple

Jagannath Dham or Jagannath temple Puri is located on the seashore of the Bay of Bengal in the State of Odisha (Orissa), INDIA, is the abode of Lord Jagannath (Lord of the Universe) or Purusottam (Supreme Personality of the Universe). It is one of the “CHAR DHAM” (Four Holy Places) of the Indian subcontinent including temples at Puri, Dwarka, Badrinath and Rameshwaram.

The Lord Jagannath is a combination of two words "Jagat" means Universe "Nath" meaning "Lord" and hence it means "Lord of the Universe".  Believed to be a manifestation of Lord Vishnu, the main deities of the temple are Lord Jagannatha, his elder brother Balabhadra and his younger sister Subhadra. The image of Jagannath (of black color representing sunya) Subhadra (the creative energy) and Balabhadra (of white color representing phenomenal universe) have evolved from Nilamadhava of the ancient Kalinga Jaina, so one is able to attain salvation and get free from the cycles of birth and death.)

Lord Jagannath is popularly known as "Darubrahma" literally meaning "the Godhead manifestation in a modern image" among the people, the temple is built in the Kalinga style of architecture, with the Panchatantra (Five chariots) type consisting of two anuradha's, two kanakas and one ratha. The temple is the mystery of 12th century A.D.

Jagannath temple is famous for its annual "Rath yatra" or "chariot festival" (car festival in which the three main deities of the temple are placed on vast and highly decorated temple cars by seeing Lord on the Chariot on the Rathayatra day, is the high point of all the festivals celebrated and has been attracting lakh of devotees and pilgrims.

Puri, Purusottam, Sri- Kshetra, Sankha-kshetra, Nila- Saila Nilachal, - These are the various names of the abode of “Lord Jagannath”. Who has given so pious, serene, and respectable names where Adi- Guru Sankaracharya, Ramnandji Maharajah, Jesus Christ, Guru Nanak, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Totapuri Maharaja, Prabhupada Srila Swami and thousands of saints and sages spent part of their life? In addition, many of them took their last breathe on this soil. The holy place Puri is believed to be the Baikuntha- where Lord Vishnu stays; we warmly welcome you all to spend some of your memorable moments spent in this abode,

It is described in Purusottam Mahatmya that Lord Vishnu after killing the demon Gayasur, to commemorate the glory of his victory, placed his Sankha (cronch) in Puri, Chakra (disc) in Bhubaneswar, Gada (mace) in Jajapur and Padma (lotus) in Konark and they were later known as Sankha Kshetra, Chakra Kshetra, Gada Kshetra and Padma Kshetra respectively,

"Konarka”, the place bears a name composed of two World elements: Kona meaning corner and Arka meaning the Sun, where Sun god worshipped in Ark Kshetra is also called Konark, in 'Brahma Purana' the Sun God in Ark-kshetra has been described as Konaditya, so it is evident that the place where the Kona aditya (or Kona-arka, the Sun god) was worshipped was also popularly called Konark, this corner on the east seacoast houses the ruins of a temple, exquisitely built to resemble a gigantic chariot with impeccably carved wheels, columns and panels, it stands as a mute reminder of the times when Orissan architecture has reached its pinnacle,

The magnificent Sun Temple at Konark is the culmination of Kalinga temple architecture  and one of the most stunning monuments of religious architecture in the world, depicting the grace, the joy and the rhythm of life all its wondrous variety. built by the King Narasimhadeva in the thirteenth century, the entire temple was designed in the shape of a colossal chariot with seven horses and twenty-four wheels, carrying the sun god, Surya, across the heavens, Surya has been a popular deity in India since the Vedic period,

There is an endless wealth of decoration from minute patterns in bas-relief done with a jeweler’s precision to boldly modeled freestanding sculptures of exceptionally large size, under the crackling wheels of past events, the Sun Temple has lost its main sanctuary but the remaining structure and the ruins arouse testify until today the boundless creative energy of Orissan artistes and their impressive contribution to the treasury of Indian Art and building technique, standing majestically on the sandy coast of the Bay of Bengal, the porch, in its solitary grandeur is an eloquent testimony of a gracious and mysterious past, dedicated to Sun God, Raja Narasingha Deva constructed this temple-I of the Ganga Dynasty was dazzling supreme in the political firmament of India.

FAME OF THE SUN TEMPLE

That the fame of the this temple as a wonderful monument has spread far beyond the limits of Orissa in the sixteen century is amply borne out not only by the great Vaishnava Saint Chaitanya's (AD-1486-1533) visit to the place but also by the following pithy description which appeared in the A'in-i-Akbari of Abu'l-Fazl, the famous chronicler of the court of Akbar (AD-1556-1605),

ARCHITECTURAL GLORY OF THE SUN TEMPLE
The Sun Temple e built in the thirteenth century was conveyed as a gigantic chariot of Sun God, with twelve pairs of exquisitely ornamented wheels pulled by seven pairs of horses, majestic in conception, this temple is indeed one of the most sublime monuments of India, famous as much for its imposing dimensions and faultless proportions as for the harmonious integration of architectural grandeur with plastic allegiance, It is admittedly the best in Orissa,

 Its fine traceries and scrollwork, the beautiful and natural cut of animal and human figures, all give it superiority over other temples. The chief quality is its design and architectural details. The Sun temple belongs to the Kalinga School of Indian Temples with characteristic curvilinear towers mounted by Cupolas. In shape, the Temple did not make any major departure from other sikhara temples of Orissa,

The main sanctum which (229 ft. high) was constructed along with the audience hall (128 ft. high) having elaborate external projections, the main sanctum, which enshrined the presiding deity, has fallen off. The audience hall survives in it is entirely but of the other two viz the Dancing Hall (nata Mandir) and the dining Hall (Bhoga - Mandap), only small portions have survived the vagaries of time. The temple compound measures 857 ft. by 540 ft.

The alignment of the Sun Temple is on the east-west direction. The Temple is located in natural surroundings, abounding with casuarinas plantations and other types of trees, which grow on sandy soil. The environment is largely unspoiled. Gentle undulating topography around the Sun Temple lends some variation to the landscape.

Odissi is the oldest classical dance form of India and its roots are traced to 1st century BC. Traditional Odissi dance consists of 6 performances accompanied by live music. The music is set to Odissi style of Indian classical music. Odissi is the only dance form to have another basic body position besides the centered ‘Plie’ stance. The second stance Tribhangi, literally meaning three bends. Tribhangi divides the body into three parts, head, bust and torso,

A beach tour in Odisha will provide every kind of tourists one or the other thing to enjoy, from isolation and opportunity for introspection to action and fun. Take a beach trip to Odisha to experience what makes the beaches in Odisha attractive to so many tourists. Puri sea beach is the best in India. Located on the shores of Bay of Bengal, it has one of the finest beaches in the world. The fine white sands of Puri beach and the roar of the breakers rolling in from the Bay of Bengal have fascinated visitors throughout the ages. The beach itself is wide and therefore, ideal for a large number of beach activities and sports

Odisha (Puri, Gopalpur, and Paradeep)

Odisha Tour Packages offers you a tour of the Puri, Chilka Dolphin Gopalpur beaches, the beaches of Odisha offer you an unending scope to enjoy yourself the way you want. Beaches around is just perfect to relax and refresh the drained mind and body. Combined with smooth sandy beaches and soak the warmth of the sun or simply take a quiet walk barefooted on these beaches. The calming effect will easily penetrate deep into your body. The vast stretches of seawater have a unique ability to carry away all your worries and heartaches along with its waves. You can also watch the sunrise and Sunset far in the horizon and appreciate the beauty.